Curt Yeomans covers government for the Clayton News Daily. He can be reached at via e-mail at cyeomans@news-daily.com.

When would be a good time to visit Amsterdam?

I am planning a trip to the Netherlands for the spring to coincide with the flower festivals at a large outdoor garden center near Amsterdam. The garden center is called Keukenhof.

Keukenhof actually sounds like a very nice place based on its website, www.keukenhof.nl/. They have a different flower show every week in the spring. They are a stop on a three-day flower parade route and they rent out bicycles so people can ride bikes through the fields of Tulips near Keukenhof and go past the Windmills. They also offer boat rides down waterways, which pass by the nearby fields and windmills.

The tulips come in a plethora of colors. There are red tulips, white tulips, yellow tulips, orange tulips, purple tulips, blue tulips and tulips in many other colors on display in the gardens. From the photos of the center, the tulips seem to be arranged in a majestic symphony of colors.

Of course, Keukenhof has other flower types on display but they can’t compare to tulips.

The problem is the Tulip show is held from March 21 until March 26 and the flower parade visits on April 20. I can’t be there for both events so I have to pick one. Seeing both would be nice, however the head honchos at the newspaper are not likely to grant a month off for vacation, even if it was touted as research for a future column.

And please don’t take this as a knock against the daffodil show which will be taking place at Keukenhof when the flower parade visits. Daffodils are nice flowers but the Netherlands and tulips just go together.

When a person thinks of Holland, tulips are one of the first images which come to mind — along with canals, windmills and the Redlight District, of course.

Therein lies the dilemma. Go see the tulip show and get the feeling of visiting the Holland everyone imagines, or wait and see the flower parade which is like Holland’s version of Mardi Gras.

Either way, bike and boat rides would still likely be in play.

But the question remains: Should I go for the tulip show or the flower parade?

Curt Yeomans is the Senior Reporter for the Clayton News Daily and an avid traveler. He can be reached at 770-478-5753, ext. 247 or via e-mail at cyeomans@news-daily.com.